Game-board



s. A. LOWHEY.

GAME BOARD.

APPLICATION FILED J-LY la. i911.

Patented Nov. 11, 1919.

3 SHEETS-'SHEEf l.

A TTORNE Y G. A. LOWREY.

GAME BOARD.

APPLlCATION FILED JULY IB. i911.

Patented N ov. 11, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET W/TNESSESI /NVENTOR l l, mit? l' f1 J d.

A TTOR/VE Y G. A. LOWREY. GAME BOARD.

A APPLICATION FILED JULY 18. 1917. 1,321,464. y

Patented Nov. 11, 1919.

3 SHEETS-snaar 3. 95'

f2 me@ L IES W fle ,me 73e i/v////// //////////////1 v\5 j INVENTOR ATTORNEY 9ITED STATES NT GEORGE LOWBEY, OF=BALTIMORE, MARYLAND;

GAME-BOARD.

Speccation of LettersxPatent. PatentedNoV. 11, 1919.

Application filed July 18, 191,7. Serial No. 181,284.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, Grenen A. Lownny, a citizen of the United States, lresiding at Baltimore, inthe State of Maryland, have invei'ited certain new and useful Improvements in Game-Boards; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and

exact description of .the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. My invention relates to game-boards. One obj ect of my invention is to produce a gameboard having a surface laid outv in the similitude of the ordinary baseball diamond and provided with a plurality of fiXed figures thereupon representing a baseball team constituting t-he outs Another object of my invention is to provide a plurality of normally hidden figures representing the ins which shall bei re-` vealed to view when certain pre-determined conditions are fulfilled.

Another object of my invention is, to prol vide visible means under control of the per-' accompanying specification and pointed out in the claims, reference beingv had tol lthe accompanying Vdrawing,of which:

.Figure 1 is a' plan lview of my improved game board. Y

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof.A

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of some vof the parts shown in Fig. 2, lookingin the direction of the arrow 3 in said figure.

Fig. l is a view of the parts shown` in Fig. 3 looking in the direction of thev arrow 4 in said figure.

Fig.k 5 is an enlarged view of one of the means for holding a figure belonging to the ins looking in the direction of the arrow 5 in Fig 1. Y y

Fig. 6 is a view of the parts shown in Fig. 5 looking inthe direction of the arrow 6 insaid figure. f

Fig. 7 is an enlargedview of the means for resetting the ball, hereinafter' described.

S is an enlarged viewbf oneofthe tripping mechanisms for 'operating a figure belonging to the ins when 'viewed in the direction of the arrow 8 in Fig. 1.

' Fig.' 9 is a view of the parts shown in Fig. 8 looking in-the 'directionof the arrow 9 said ligure.

Fig. 10` is an enlarged view of certain details hereinafter described.

vIn carrying out my invention I provide a framework 15 formed' of a' plurality of verticalpipe sections such as 16, each provided'with a'flange 17 forming a foot there` for." I Each' of the pipe sections 16-16 at the front' and'rear of my improved game board is joined at its top by lmeans of an elbowV such' as 18 with a horizontal pipe sectionr such `as 19, andthe inner ends of the sections 19 are joined' together by the two arms of the cross connection 20. The horizontal pipe sections such as 21-'-21 are threaded into theremaining arms'of the cross section and theL outer ends of the pipe sections V21-21 are `joined by means of the elbows 22422 with the vertical pipe sections 16-16 at the sides of my improved game board.`

The metallic frame provided, as just de-Y scribed, supports a framework preferablyv formed of wood, said framework comprising the front end piece 23, the rearend piece 24:, the vparallel side pieces 25--25 and the oblique side pieces 26-2.` Between the ends of the parallel side pieces .2 5-25 and the oblique side pieces '26--26, the cross piece 27 is provided `and additional cross pieces 28, 29 and 30 are provided between the `front end piece 23 and the cross ypiece 27, and cross pieces 31, 32, 33 andBL are also provided between the rear end piece 24 and the cross piece 27.

' rI`he front end piece 2 3 and the cross pieces 27 and 2S are united with the parallel sides 2 5-25 by metallic knee pieces such as 35, and the rear end piece 2 4 andthe cross iece 2 7 are united with the oblique pieces 26-26 by metallic knee pieces suchas 36. The cross pieces 29 and 30 are secured to the parallel side pieces A25 by screws such as 37, and the cross pieces 31,32, 33 and 311 `are secured to the oblique pieces 265-26 by screws such as 38. e The framework, bounded bythe front end 23, rear end 241, parallel side pieces 25-25 and oblique side pieces 2G--26, is securedV to the metallic framework by screws such as 39. The' framework formed by the front end piece 23, the rear end piece 24, the parallel side pieces 25-25Y andV the oblique side pieces 26-26 is provided with a suitable cover having' laid out thereupon a baseball diamond 4l, and said covering is eX- tended over the edges of said front, rear and said side pieces backwardly nearly to the feet 17, forming a curtain 42 to shield the interior mechanisms of my improved game boa-rd from View.

Rectangular holes such as 43, 44, 45 and 45a are provided in the cover 40 at the locations, respectively, of the first, second, third and home bases of the baseball diamond 41. One of these holes is shown enlarged in Fig. l0, and it is formed by cutting a rectangular hole, provided with flaps, in the cover 40, turning' said flaps around the wire frame 46 and securing said fla-ps on the underside of the cover 40 by a line of stitches such as 47.

rlliere are affixed to the cover 40 a plurality of figures such as 48, representing the 'ball team having the outs and located in the positions usually occupied by the members of the out team. The umpire 49 is also fixed in position.

5l represents a member of the in team who has reached first base, and 52, 53 and 50 respectively, represent members of the in team who have reached second, third, and home bases, respectively, and these figures will hereinafter be referred to as base runners. Base runners 50, and 53 are normally hidden from view, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, but they are supported in such a manner that they will be brought into view as is the base runner' 5l in Fig. 2 as hereinafter explained.

Each of the base runners 50, 5l, 52 and 53 is mounted upon a base 54 (see Figs. 5 and 6) and the base is secured to a support 55. The support 55 is united to the counter-balance by means of the cross pieces 57-57 and screws such as 58, and the whole structure thus formed, including the base runner attached to thebase 54, revolves freely upon the bolt 59, the latter being secured in the distance block 60 and the side frame 25, and a nut such as 6l retains said parts in position upon the bolt 59.

The counter-balance 56 is made of such a weight that the parts connected thereto, including the base runner, will have a normal tendency to assume the position shown in Figs. and 6 and said parts are moved by the operator from said position to the position shown in Fig. 2 whenever the game is to be set to be played.

' The instrumentalities by which the base runners are moved from the position shown dotted in Fig. 2 to the position shown by full lines in Figs. 5 and 6 will now be described.

A block such as 62 is secured by means of the screws 63 and the nuts 64 to the front end piece 23, said block being provided with a hole in which is slidably mounted a metallic pipe 65, the other end of the metallic pipe being supported and sliding freely in the guide 6G, which is secured by means of the screws 67 to the cross piece 28. On the front end of the pipe is screwed a T piece 68 and short pieces of pipe 69 are threaded into the cross piece of said T.

Strips of cloth, rubber, leather or any other suitable materials are wound around the pipe 65, the T 68 and pipe 69 to form a fairly elastic ball, and said ball is provided in any approved manner with a leather covering, the whole forming a striking buffer 70. A collar 7l is secured upon the pipe 65 and a spring 72 is loosely mounted upon said pipe between the collar 7l and the front of the block 62.

The inner end of the pipe 65 is threaded and provided with two nuts 72-72 between which is clamped the ear 73. One end of the belt 74 is secured to the ear 73 and said belt extends around the pulley 75 and is secured thereto by screws such as 76. A spring 77 is secured to the pulley 75 by means of the screw 78 and said spring serves to keep the buffer in the position shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

`The pulley is secured to the flanges 80-80 and said fianges are secured to the shaft 8l by means of the pins 82-82. A bearing block 83 is secured to the supporting strips 84-84 by means of screws such as 85 and the supporting strips are secured to the front end piece 23 and the cross piece 28 by screws such as 86. F langes such as 87-87 are secured to the bearing block 83 by means of bolts 88 and a pipe 89 is rigidly secured in the flanges 87. The shaft 81- extends through the pipe`89 and on the upper end of said shaft the Hangers 90 are rigidly secured. Between the flanges 90 the bat 91 is secured by means of the bolts 92. 'The bearing block 83 is placed somewhat toward the left of the center of the game board and to the left of the pipe 65 and said bat extends toward the right to somewhat beyond the center of the game board and is provided with a slot 93 closed by the end piece 94, which strikes the wire 95 and limits the movement of the bat 91.

A ball guide wire 95 extends through the slot 93 and passes through the front and rear vertical pipe sections 16 and the ends of said wire are threaded and said wire is placed under a suitable longitudinal stress by means of the nuts 96 threaded upon the ends thereof. The ball 97, preferably of wood, slides freely upon the wire The means by which the motion of the ball 97 causes the figures 50. 5l, 52 and 53, representing the members of the in team, to appear at the bases during the progress of the game will new be described.

Since each of the base runners 50, 51, 52

and 53 isv operated in the same way, the

means ,t'or operating but-one base runner will be described, particular reference being had to the base runner 53.

A screw eye. 98 is secured in the back of the counter-balance 56 and a release cord 99 is secured to said screw eye. cord passes through any suitable number of guiding screw eyesA such as 100 back-,

rigidly secured to the shaft andthe endsl of said shaft are reduced as .at 106. The reduced portions 106 work freely in the bearing bracketsA 107 which are secured to thei cross piece 34 by meansof screws 108; hence,

it is evident that the pulleys 101 and 104Y arel free to revolve but are kept in longifY tudinal positions by the large portions of the shaft 105 bearing against the inside of the bearing brackets 107. The trip pulley 104 is provided with a groove 109 :tor theI reception of the reset cord 110, the end of said reset cord being securedv to the pulley 104 in any approved manner.. A camknose 111 isforined upon the pulley 104 for aI purpose hereinafter explained. A latch casing 112 is secured by means ofthe screws 113 to a block 114 and said block is securedby means of screws 115 t-o latch brackets 116, said` brackets being secured to the cross piece 34 iby means otscrews 117. The block 114 is placed substantially inline with the pulley 104 and a slot 118 is cut in the cross piece 34 to provide clearance for the cam noseA 111.

The. block 114 is further secured to thev crosspieee34 by meansofthe bolt 119. A trip latch slides freely within the latch casing 112 and is normally pressed downward by means of the spring 121, said latch being prevented from disengagement bythe knob 122 screwed therein and working within the slot 123 formed in the latch casing. Y

A latch cord 124 is secured to the knob 122 and the upper end of said cord is se-v cured to the screw eye 125, said screw eye being secured within the front end of the trip lever 126. The trip lever 126 is secured by. means of screws 127 to the bearing hub 128 and said hub revolves freely upon the pin 129,1nounted in the -upper end of the brackets 116. The trip lever 126' extends upwardly and rearwardly and its top end rests just below the guide wire 95. The screw eye 130 is secured nearfthe' upper end of the trip lever 126 and a relieving cord 131 is'secured to saidscrew eye. Said cord-r passes through a hole 132 in the cross piece 34, and the lower end of said cord is secured as at 133l to the trip pulley 104.

yThea-eis one set otY che mechanisms, as

Said release shown in Figs.r 8 and 9,., and just described, for each of the three base runnersl O the in teams, thus, therel yis one set Vfor the first base, one set for the secondl base land one .set for the thi-rd base, lbutas'shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 8, the pulley corresponding to the pulley 101, :tor the second base runner is placed as at 134 to the right of the pulley corresponding tothe pulley 104. Otherwise,

these mechanisms are the same in all re-A spects, and the mechanismfor the first base runner isl the same as has just been described with reference to the third base runners,

thus the pulleys for the irst base runner are in all respects similar, respectively, to` the pulleys 101 and 104 for the third base runner landsimilarly located, butv the. cord 99A which operates the third base Vrunner Ais joined as at 99ste the cord 99B which op. crates the ligure at home Release cord 99 for the third base Vrunner has been herein? before described and therelease cordsf1-37 and 138 for the first and*k second base. 111m-, ners, respectively, are similarly attached andv have similar functions. The -resetv cord 110 for the thirdbas'e lrunner andhome and the resety cords139 Vand140l forthe iirst and second base runners,A respectively, .are `,all

joinedtogetherv lto the reset rcable 141,*whichl extends to the front of the game board and. terminates inl the reset ring 142. y

The means for bringing the ball .97 toward the frontof the game board `after each dis` placement therefrom will'now be described. A ball reset guide wire .143 is secured between the front and rear vertical,supportsl 16, inany approved manner, and yabove Vthe ball guide wire 95and screw eyes144 secured in the ball reset bar slide freely upon the wires 95 and 143. Screw eyes 146- are secured within the bar 145.` and a ball reset cord 147 passes through the screw eye 148 secured within the rear support 16 and so t said cord extends toward ,the front of the game board, passing through the" screw eye 149v secured. in ythe horizontal pipe vsection. 19. At the front end of the game board the cord- 147 passes through the screw eye 150 secured to the iront support 16.

The operation of my. improvedV game board is as follows :-r e

The player of the game is'provided with an ordinary baseball bat,and the figures representing the base runners are,l all hidden as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, at second andY third bases Vand at home. l Y

In Fig. 2 the first hase runner is shown elevated'hut it isl also to. be hidden Vat the starting of the game as are .the other .base

runners. n

The player is alloted a certain number of hits to strike. upon the buffer 7 0f and when and the motion of said pulley will give the bat 91 a movement in the direction of the arrow 151 in Figs. Ll; the bat will then strike the ball 97 and depending upon the speed with which the player has struck the buer 70, the ball 97 will move to different distances toward the rear of the game board. Ifthe ball moves far enough to strikethe trip lever 126 and move it backwardly, it 1s evident that it will also move the trip levers 152 and 153, corresponding to the first and second base runners, but as the effects produced by the movement of these levers are `the same as that produced by the lever 126, corresponding to the third and home base runners, only the operation of the lever 126 and its related parts will be explained.

As the lever 126 is moved backwardly, it pulls upon the cord 12a, this pulls the trip latch 120 upwardly and releases the cam nose 111; the weight of the counter- =balance 56 will then move said counterbalance, the base 51 and the figure 53, representing the third base runner, from the position shown dotted in Figs. 1 and 2 to that shown in Fig. 5. This exposes the third base runner to view and by reason of the connection between the cords 99 and 99b the figure at home is also exposed to view.

It is, of course, to be understood that the base runners at the first and second bases are also exposed because the corresponding levers 152 and 153 have been moved, and furthermore, it is also evident that the reset.

cords 110, 139 and 140 are hanging loose in order to permit the motion of the pulley 10-1. lVhen the counter-balance 56 moves, as just described, it will turn the pulleys 101 and 1011 in the direction of the arrow 154 in F ig. 9.

Should the player' of the game strike a light blow upon the buffer 70, the ball may not move far enough to strike the first trip lever 52, in which case no base runner will be exposed to View and no base hit will be counted. If he strikes hard enough to move the base trip lever 152, the first base runner will be exposed to view; if he strikes somewhat harder, the first and second base runners will be exposed to view, and if still harder, the first, second, third, and home base runners will be exposed to View.

In order to reset the game for a new round of play, the operator of the game pulls the reset ring 142. Y This pulls upon the reset cords 110, 139 and 140 and moves the release and trip pulleys in a direction opposite to that of the arrow 154; in Fig. 9 and brings all the cam noses 111 to the left of the trip latch 120 in said figure. The operator then continues to pull upon said reset cords and moves the release pulley 101 and the trip pulley 104; and the corresponding pulleys for the rst and second base runners in a counter clock-wise direction from the position shown in Fig. 9, thus pulling upon the relieving cords 131, 155 and 156 and moving the upper end of the trip levers 126, 152 and 153 downwardly from the wire 95. Vhile said trip levers are so held, the operator is then to move the ball reset cord 147 so as to move the reset bar 145 toward the front of the game board, thus restoring the ball 97 to its initial position. T he operator is then to move the .cord 147 in a reverse direction and return the bar 145 to the position shown in Fig. 2 and finally, the operator is to release the ring 142 and the game board will be set for a new round of play.

I claim 1. In a game board, the combination with a cover, of a hole therethrough, a movable figure resting normally below said cover, means for moving said gure through said hole, a buffer, a ball moved by said buffer, a trip lever moved by said ball and connections between said means and said trip lever.

2. In a game board, the combination with a cover and supporting frame, ofa baseball diamond on said cover, holes through said cover at the bases of said diamond, a figure movably mounted on said frame subjacent to each 'of said holes and normally resting below said cover, means for moving said figures through said holes, a buffer, a ball moved by said buffer distances depending upon the speed of said buffer, a plurality of trip levers having ends located in the path of said ball and connect-ions between said trip levers and said figures.

3. In a game board, t-he combination with a cover' and supporting frame, of a baseball diamond on said cover, holes through said cover at the bases of said diamond, a figure movably mounted on said frame subjacent to each of said holes and normally resting below said cover, a buffer and means for moving any number of said figures through said holes, the number depending upon the speed of said buffer.

et. In a game board, the combination with a framework, of a pipe slidably mounted thereon, a buffer mounted upon the end of said pipe, a shaft revolubly mounted upon said framework, a pulley mounted upon said shaft, a bat secured to said shaft, a connection between said pipe and pulley for moving said pulley in one direction, a spring' for moving said pulley in the opposite direction, a guide wire supported by said frame, and a ball mounted upon said wire and located to be struck by said bat.

5. In a game board, the combination with a framework, of a pipe slidably mounted thereon, a buffer mounted upon the end of said pipe, a shaft revolubly mounted upon said framework, a pulley mounted upon said shaft, a bat secured to said shaft, a connection between said pipe and pulley for moving said pulley in one direction, a spring for moving said pulley in the opposite direction, a guide wire supported by said frame, a ball mounted upon said wire and located to be struck by said bat, a slot in said bat embracing said wire and an end piece on said bat for limiting the movement thereof.

6. In a game board, the combination with a framework and a trip lever mounted thereon, of a latch operated thereby, bearings mounted upon said framework, a shaft revolubly mounted in said bearings, a trip pulley mounted on said shaft and controlled by said latch, a cam nose on said pulley for engaging with said latch to lock said pulley and a connection between said pulley and said lever whereby said lever is moved by said pulley whenever said pulley is moved beyond the locking position in one direction.

7. In a game board, the combination with a framework and a trip lever mounted thereon, of a latch operated thereby, bearings mounted upon said framework, a shaft revolubly mounted in said bearings, a trip pulley mounted on said shaft and controlled by said latch, a cam nose on said pulley for engaging with said latch to lock said pulley, a release pulley mounted upon said shaft, a movable ligure mounted upon said frame, a connection between said release pulley and said ligure 'and a reset cord connected to said trip pulley and extending to the front of said framework.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature.

. GEORGE A. LOVVREY.

v Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

rso 

